Hong Kong woman loses HK$21.5 million in cryptocurrency scam

A 60-year-old Hong Kong woman has lost more than HK$21 million (US$2.7 million) in a cryptocurrency scam after a fraudster posing as an investment expert she met online duped her.

The clerk reported the case to police on Saturday, saying she had befriended an individual claiming to be an investment specialist on “Baby Kingdom”, a popular online parenting forum and community website, on March 15 this year, a source said.

The fraudster duped her into investing on a fake cryptocurrency platform that promised high returns. Believing the pitch, she remitted HK$19 million to the fake website.

Subsequently, an accomplice posing as a platform compliance officer contacted her, claiming that her account had been involved in money laundering and demanding funds to clear her name.

Acting on the instructions, the victim transferred an additional HK$1.2 million.

She eventually alerted police after being asked to make further payments.

Between March and September, the victim lost about HK$21.5 million in total.

The case has been classified as obtaining property by deception and handed over to the Sau Mau Ping district investigation team.

Earlier this year, a 67-year-old retired foreign businessman lost HK$84.8 million after meeting an online fraudster on social media who developed a romantic relationship with him over WhatsApp.

Posing as a cryptocurrency investment expert, the fraudster persuaded the victim to download a fake trading application and transfer digital assets into designated crypto wallets over a six-month period.